Once-disqualified GOP hopeful praises state Supreme Court ruling

Gary Schmidt will be allowed to keep up his state Senate run — for now.

The Nevada Supreme Court on Friday ruled Republican primary election voters in state Senate District 16 could cast a ballot for Schmidt ahead of a July 9 hearing at the state’s highest court.

Justices’ brief, three-page order stayed a lower court decision that found Schmidt did not live at the address listed on his candidacy paperwork and was not eligible to seek the spot now held by state Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno.

An earlier District Court decision allowed Schmidt’s name to appear on ballots, which have already been printed, but ordered that signs be posted at voting locations notifying voters he is disqualified.

Schmidt’s attorneys immediately appealed to the state’s highest court, where justices needed a little more than two weeks to decide the appeal raised “significant legal questions with statewide legal implications.”

They determined those questions required a full hearing and that Schmidt should be allowed to challenge Kieckhefer in the meantime.

"As always, voters should vote for the candidate they believe is the best choice," he added in an email.

Primary voters can start dropping off ballots at early voting locations on Saturday. In-person primary voting is scheduled for June 12.

Schmidt, a perennial state legislative candidate, cheered the ruling in a Friday statement.

“The State Supreme Court has struck a blow against the swamp and backroom good ol boy corrupt establishment politics,” he wrote. “The people have been granted the right to chose Schmidt as their Republican candidate for state Senate District 16.”

Schmidt’s candidacy woes date back to March, when he listed the Reindeer Lodge on Mount Rose Highway as his place of residence. That building’s roof collapsed under some 25 feet of wet snow during last year’s heavy winter, prompting Kieckhefer to challenge Schmidt’s ballot appearance.

Schmidt told the Reno Gazette Journal he doesn't currently sleep at the building, but argued he’s still allowed to hold office under a state law that permits candidates to leave their legal residence temporarily if they plan to come back —something the state senate hopeful said he intends to do.

He blamed county building officials for slow progress in getting back into the building, which he said he plans to fix up and sell sometime over the next few years.